Motor-starting switch.



F. G. DUSTIN.,

MOTOR STARTING SWITCH,

APPLIUATION FILED FBB.6,1911,

1,060,384 Patent@ mig. 15, 1m

, j a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. G. DUSTIN.

MOTOR STARTING SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED uns, 1911.

1,000,884. Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

fa? Zai/5h UNITED STATES.

PATENT oFFicE.

FRED G. DUSTIN, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MOTOR-STARTING SWITCH.

To all whom it mayvconcem: l w

Be it known thatI, FRED G; DUs'riN, acitizen ofthe United States, residing `at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and, State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and 'useful Improvements in Motor-I Starting Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willy enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains'to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved motor starting switch espe.

eiaflly designed for startingalternating current motors whether of. the single phase or of the polyphase types. f

To this end, the invention consists of the novel devices and. combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims. 1 l

, It is a` well known factthat most types of alternating `currentmotors require to start them, an abnormally `large current 'in com- .parison tothat required to operate such mo tors-with their normal load and at normal speed. This makes it necessary tofuse large fuses for starting duty which are, however, much too large to give the hproper protection 'to the motors after they have been started and are in normal running condition. For this reason, while it is necessary to use large fuses for starting such motors, it is very desirable to .arrange the motor current to be switchedover on the small fuses after the motor has reached its normal speed and cur rent consumption. In starting such motors vand in making the change of connections above indicated, it is undesirable-.to open the motor circuit, even for an instant, since the motor may' lose sufficient speed during such brief interval of inoperation in the current supply, that an excessivel current will flow through the niotor circuit'whenV the running fuses are connected in circuit, and thus cause thc smaller ruiming fuses to`melt or, fuse and thereby open the motor, circuit and stop the motor. lVith present methods of starting such motors, the connections are very often improperly made so that the motor is either started through the running fuses, or

` left on the large fuse .after it is started; .in

the first instance, blowing the fuse and stopping the motorand in the second instance, leaving the motor on fuses niuch too large for their proper protection. Moreover, if

Specification of Letters Patent. i Pafgnfed Aug- '15, 1911i, Application inea February 6,1911. seriai No. coarse.

the power fails on the line for abrief period the motors will slow down orstop, which condition mayvendanger the motor upon the restoring of the current to the line, if the motor switch has not in the meantime been opened.- Furthermore, the present methods of starting the motors requires apparatusrk all of the undesirable features noted are eliminated; and this is accomplished by an extremely simple and highly etiicient mechanismr y Lf; 'Y

The improved switch maytake a great' many diiferent forms sov far as the broad idea of my invention `is concerned, but in the drawings I haveillustrated butone forni thereof, which form, from my experience at the present time, Ibeli'eve to be the best form for ordinary applications. w

In the drawings which illustrate Athe invention,`li'ke characters indicate like parts throughout the several. views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a` -diagrammatic view illustrating the `operation of the elenieiitsof my improved switch in yconnection with a two-phase alternating motor; Fig. Qis a lvertical section showing the assembled parts of the switch andan oil box` for containing the same; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line; w3 w3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 isa horizontal section4 taken on the line a* ai* of Fig. Q.

' The inotor to be started by the switch is indicated by the numeral l, and the motor leads, of which,as shown, there are four, are indicated by` the numeral 2, v,The motor leads `2 are connected to movable contacts 3 'shown as applied to af rotaryor oscillatory i drum of insulatingmaterial, thefsaid contacts 3 being preferably arranged vertically, one over the other, and on theperiphery of .the said drum. This drum is herein broadly designated as acontact carrier or controller and'is not limited to any particular form'or arrangement, but, on the contrary, it" is treated broadly as an elemente,orqdevice. by

the increment or iiianipulatioirof.which the so-called motor lead contacts may be successively engaged with the so-called starting and running contacts. In Fig. 1, the drum 4 is shown as cut into four sections separated, but in Fig. 2, the drum is shown as an integral or single member rotatively mounted in an oil containing compartment 5 of a box or casing 6. The said drum may be thus mounted for'oscillatory movements in diit'erent ways, but, as shown, it is provided at its lower end with a yoke7 having a trunnion seated in a bearing 8 on the bottom or" the box 6. At-its upper end, the drum 4 is also preferably provided with a similar yoke 9 that is secured on the lower end of asleeve 10, the upper end: of which is journaled in the top plate of the'com artment 5 and projects into an upper compartment 11 of the box 6. Within the upper compartment 11, thel sleeve is provided with a rigidly secured arm 12 having a pin or lug- 13 at its Ifree end.

.is provided with an operating lever or arm 16. A .coiled torsion spring 17 which, as shown, surrounds the sleeve 10, is attached at one 'endato the top plate of the compartment 5 'and at its lower end `to the upper drum' yoke 9. This spring 17 exerts a torce which tends to rotate the drum 4 in the direction of the arrow marked thereon in Fig;

' 3., and the movement of the said drum in this direction is limited by the engagementof a stop pin 18 on said drum with a stop pin 19 on one vertical wall of the box 6 (see Fig. 3)

A Acoiled torsion spring 20 attached to the shafty 14 and to-the top plate of the box compartment 11, tends to throw the operating lever 16 back to its normal position or in the direction of said arrow, noted, in respect to he numeral 21 indicates a' solenoid or electro-magnet which is connected in series With one of the motor leads 2, and the numeral 22 indicates another solenoid or electro-magnet or potential coil that is connected across two oi the said motor leads 2 by a shunt 23. In the shunt connection 23, is a normally closed hand-operated switch 24 and an automatically actuated switch having normally engaged contacts 25 and 25a. ferred arrangement, the movable contact 25 is carried by, but insulated from an' intermediately pivoted so called intercepting lever 26. The lever 26 is normally held in 'position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, by a coiled spring 27 thatis preferably made adjustable, and the said lever 26 is connected to the movable member ofthe solenoid or elec'tro- In the premagnet 21. A core, or movable member of the potentialcoil 22 operates the so-called running current lock in the form of a pivoted lever 28 provided with a beveled nose 29 with a lock notchl 30 and with a stop lug 31. A coiled spring 32 that is preferably adjustable, normally holds the lock lever 28 in the posit-ion shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The levers 26 and 28 are, in the construction illustrated, pivoted tothe top plate of the box compartment 5, and the said levers,-by their respect-ive springs, are normally held against stops 33 and 34 on the said top plate. The numeral 35 indicates a linger actuated stem attached to one arm of the lever 28 and extended to the exterior of the box 6 for the purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The line Wires, of which as shown, there are four, areindicated by the numeral 36 and they are provided with the usual main fuses 37. The said line Wires are divided into branches 36 and 36b that are connected, respectively, to relatively fixed contacts 38'i and 381).- Running fuses 39 arelinterposed inthe line branches 36a. The contacts 33l and 38h are' arranged in pairs for coperation with the movable contacts 3 of thev switch 'drum 4, and, as shown, the said contacts 38a and 38b are attached to an upright plate 40 'of insulating material rigidly secured within the compartment 5 ofthe case 6.

Operation: proved switch is substantially as follows: To start the motor, the lever 16 is moved in a direction reversed from that indicated by the arrow marked on Fig. or, in other words, in the direction of the arrow marked on Fig. 1, and the lever will move with it, the drum 4, thereby carrying the motor lead contacts 3 simultaneously into engagement with the several coperating contacts A This will close the motor circuit from the liney through the magnet 21, and this magnet being 'energized by the abnormally high current then delivered to the motor leads, will move the lever 26, against the The operation of the imtension of its spring 27, into a position in which its hooked end will engage the pin 13 of the arm 12 and thereby intercept, or arrest, further movement of the drum 4 and its contacts 3, ina position in -which v current isl established, through the line fuses 37 but not the running fuses 39, and the drum 4 and lever 16 of the starting switch are temporarily locked against lfurther movement inthe direction stated. The tension of the spring 27 is, however, so adjusted that the magnet 21`can hold the intercepting lever 26 in its operative position, only as long as the current in the motor leads is abnormal or above that required for maintaining the motor at normal speed under normal load. As soon as normal conditions are established in the motor leads, the spring 27 will overcome the force of the magnet 21 and restore the lever 26 to its normal position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, thereby closing the circuit through the potential coil or magnet 22 and releasing the drum and lever of the st-arting switch so they may be given further rotation in the direction of Vthe arrow marked on Fig. 1 This Afurther movement of the said drum and lever in the direction indicated, moves the motor lead contacts 3 into engagement with the cooperating contacts 38a before they have left contact with the cooperating contact 38", thus preventing even temporary breaking ofV the motor circuit. After the contacts 3 have been engaged with the con- -tact 38a, they may, by further movement of the lever 16, and drum'4, be moved out of engagement with the said contact-38". The movement of the drum 4 and lever 16 in .the direction stated, ,to-wit, in the direction of the arrow in. Fig. 1, is limited by the en- 28. At this time, the -magnet 22,

' Then the lever 16'is released, its spring 2.0

will throw the same back to its normal position, but the drum 4 .and itscontacts 3 will be held, as just stated, as long as the normal current is maintained in the motor circuit. If, however, an abnormally-'high current should be produced in. the motor circuit, the energy of the magnet21will be increased and caused to move the lever 26 into a position to separateH the contacts 25 and 25a. This separation of the saicontacts 25 and 25a opens the circuit of the magnet 22, thereby causing the, latter' to be denergized, which permits the spring 32 to throw the running current lock .28 to its normal position Shown in the drawings. In this way, the drum 4 is released and its spring 17 then quickly throws the same back into its normal position and opens the motor circuit thereby stopping'. the motor. This automatic feature of the switch is highly Vimportant because it protects the motor from an abnormally highl current. The motor may, with the system illustrated, be stopped, also, at will, either by opening the switch 24 or by pressing on thehead of the stem The opening of the switch 24 serves' to break the shunt thereby denergizing the magnet 22 and permitting the spring 32 to throw the lock lever 28 into its inoperative position shown in Fig. 1. By pressing on the endVv of the stem 3a, the said lock lever 23 is mechanically forced into its releasing position stated, against the force of the said magnet 22. In either case, when the lock lever 2 is f :ced into its releasing position stated, the spring 17 becomes active to in,- stant y return the drum 4 and its motor lead contacts 3 back to their normal positions shown in the drawings, and, as before stated, opens the motor circuit and stops the motor. It will thus be seen that the running fuses are protected while the motor is being started' and that the said running fuses protect the motor after the motor is started and when it is running under normal conditions. As shown, the switch `box 6 is provided at one side with a third compartment 41 which is adapted to contain the running fuses 39 and other motor line connections.

In some types of motors the relative 'arrangement of the contacts 3, 38 and 38h should be such that the said contacts 3 will be moved out of engagementwith t-he contacts 38b before they arebrought into engagement with the contacts 38a. 1t will, of course be understood that the so-called running fuses and starting fuses are, in fact, automatic circuit breakers, and the above expressions are, therefore, used in this broad sense.

What l claim is 1. A motor starting switch comprising starting and running contacts, a motor lead contact, a contact carrier for controlling-the engagement of said motor lead contact with the said starting and running contacts, a lock for securing said contact carrier with themotor lead contact engaged With said running contact, and an intercepting device operative to interrupt the movement of said contact carrier and hold the same-with the motorV lead contact temporarily engaged with said starting contact, and an operating handle for said contact carrier movable to set the same in an operative position but returnable independently thereof.

2. A` motor starting switch comprising starting and running contacts, a contact carrier provided with motor lead contacts movable thereby first into engagement with said starting contacts and then into engagementwith said running contacts, a running circuit lock operative to hold said contact carrier with said motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, and an intercepting device operative to temporarily interrupt the movement of said contact car- .rier While said motor lead contacts are engaged with said starting contacts, an operating handle for said contact carrier.- movable to set the same in an operative position but returnable independently thereof, and means for automatically returning said handle to normal position When released.

3. In a motor starting switch, the combination with starting contacts and running contacts, running fuses connected to said running contacts, of a Contact carrier provided with motor lead contacts movable thereby rst into engagement With 'said starting contacts and then into engagement with said running contacts, a running circuit lock operative to hold said contact carrier With the motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, a magnetic con-- troller for said lock, an intercepting device operative to interrupt the movement of said contact carrier in a position in which the saidl motor lead contacts are engaged With said starting contacts, and a magnetic controller for said intercepting device.

4t. In a motor starting switch, the combination with starting contacts and running contacts, running fuses connected to said running contacts, of a contact carrier provided with motor lead contacts movable thereby rst into engagement With said starting contacts and then into engagement with said running contacts, a running circit lock operative to hold said contact cai'- rier with the motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, a magnetic controller for said lock, an intercepting device operative to interrupt the movement ot' said Contact carrier in a position in which the said motor lead contacts are engaged with said starting contacts, a magnetic controller for said intercepting device, and contacts in the circuit connection to the magnetic controller of said running circuit lock normally engaged but adapted to be separated by the action of the magnetic controller of said in# tercepting device.

5. A line circuit having starting and running branches, a running fuse in said running branches, and a motor having leads, in combination With a motor starting switch comprising starting and' running contacts connected respectively to said starting and' running line branches, motor lead contacts connected to the motor leads, a contact carrier for engaging said motor lead contacts first with said starting contacts and then. with said ruiming contacts, a ruiming circuit locl for holding said contact carrier With said motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, an intercepting device for interrupting the movement of said contact carrier With said motor lead contacts engagedvvith sa'id starting contacts, a magnetic controller for said running circuit lock connected in a shunt across the motor leads, and a magnetic controller for said interrupting device connected in series with one or more ot the motor leads.

6. A line circuit having starting and running branches, running fuses in said running branches, and a motor having leads, in combination with a motor starting switch comprisingstarting and running contacts connected respectively to said starting and ruiming line branches,l motor lead contacts connected to the motor leads, a contact carrier for engaging said motor lead contacts first With said starting contacts and then With said running contacts, a running cil'- cuit lock for holding said contact carrier With said motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, an intercepting device for interrupting the movement oi said Contact carrier with said motor lead contacts engaged With said starting contacts, a magnetic controller for said running circuit lock connected in a shunt across the motor leads, a magnetic controller'tor said interrupting device connected in series with one or more of the motor leads, and a switch normally closing the said shunt but arrangedvto be opened by the action of the magnetic controller of said interrupting device.

7 A motor starting switch comprising starting and running contacts, a contact carrier provided with motor lead contacts movable thereby tirst into engagement with said starting contacts and then into engagement With said running contacts, a running circuit lock operative to hold said contact carrier With said motor lead contacts engaged with said running contacts, an intercepting device operative to temporarily interrupt the movement of said contact carrier while said motor lead contacts are engaged with said starting contacts, a magnetic circuitactuated controller for said intercept-,ing device, and a device operative at Will for moving said running circuit lock into an inoperative or releasing position.

S. In a. motor starting switch, the combination with starting contacts and running contacts, running fuses connected, to said running contacts, of a contact carrier pro vided with motor lead contacts' movable thereby lirst into engagement with said starting contacts and then into engagement with said running contacts, a, running circuit lock operative to hold said contact carrier with the motor lead contacts engaged with said running maniac/1S, a magnetic controller for said loch, an interoepting device operative to interrupt the movement of said contact carrier in a position in which the said motor lead contactsaae engaged with said starting contacts, a magnetic controller for .said intercepting device, contacts in the circuit connection to the magnetic controller ot said running circuit lock normally cngaged but adapted to be separated by the action of the magnetic controller of said intercepting device, and means operative at will and independently of said magnetic controllers, for moving said running circuit lock into an inoperative or releasing position..

9. In a motor starting switch, the combination with 'starting contacts and running contacts, running vfuses connected to said running contacts, of a contact carrier provided with motor lead contacts movable therebyfirst into engagement with said starting contacts and then into engagement with said running contacts, a running circuit lock operative to holdsaid contact carwith saidlrunn'ing contacts, a magnetic controller for said lock, an intercepting device operative to interrupt the movement of said contact carrier in a position in ,which the said motor lead contacts areI engaged with said starting contacts, a magnetic controller for said intercepting device, andcontacts in the circuit connection to the magnetic controllcr of said running circuit lock normally' engaged but adapted to be separated by the action of the magnetic controller of said intercepting device, and a switch operative at will to break the circuit through the magnetic controller of said running circuit lock.

10. A line circuit having starting and running branches, and a motor having leads, in combination with a motor starting switch comprising starting and ruiming `contacts connected, respectively, to `said starting and `-running line branches, mo tor lead contacts connected to said mo tor leads, a contact carrier for engaging said motor lead-contacts, first with said starting contacts and then with lsaid running contacts, a running circuit lock for holding said contact carrier with said motor lead contacts engaged with the said running contacts, a shunt connected across said motor leads and including a switch and a magnetic controller for Said running circuit lock, and a magnetic controller for said switch connected in series with one of said motor leads, and operative, under overload, to open said shunt circuit, and release said running ,circuit lock.

11. A motor starting switch comprising starting and running contacts, a motor lead contact, a contact carrier for controlling the engagement of said motor lead contact with the said starting and running contacts, a lock for securing said contact carrier with said motor lead contact engaged` with said running contacts, an int'ercepting device operative to interce t the movement of sa1d` hold the same with said contact carrier an motor lead contact temporarily engaged with said starting Contact, and an automatic current actuated controller for said intercepting device.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED G. DUSTIN. Witnesses:

HARRY D. KILGORE, F. D. MERCHANT.

i Copies of this patint may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington. D. C, l 

